Netflix Your Class!

James Parker

Last year I read the book No Rules Rules (2020), by Reed Hastings (co-founder of Netflix) and Erin Meyer (author of The Culture Map). 

A few nuggets that I connected with as an educator:

• “Removing controls creates a culture of ‘Freedom and Responsibility’ . . . But you can’t reach this level in one go.” 
• “It won’t work unless you have the right conditions in place. Instead of seeking to minimize error through oversight or process, focus on setting clear context” and giving freedom.
• The gains outweigh the losses. Give freedom to get responsibility.

I thought, Wow, business is finally catching up with education! These words apply to the classroom just as much as they apply to the boardroom. To me, they sounded like the advice of Gail Boushey, Allison Behne, and other education professionals about why classrooms ought to embrace their beliefs about student choice, responsibility, and independence that are key components of Daily 5.  

If you use Daily 5 in your classroom, you know it is not easy. It requires the up-front explicit teaching and learning of expectations for every routine. Interruptions in scheduling—summer, spring break, holiday weekends, increased undesired student behaviors . . . all require classes to revisit expectations or “context” over the course of the school year. You can’t reach it all in one go.

Just like these business professionals have found productivity in providing freedom, educators all around the world have found success by providing choice and teaching their students to be  independent. 

Do you think it’s possible that these business leaders learned about the success educators were having by providing choice and independence and decided to try it at their workplaces? They are “Daily 5’ing” their businesses!

Let’s continue to lead the way.